YMCA – St. Luke

This project began with a vision for a functional and artistic playground that encourages dramatic, creative and active play. To execute this vision, Earthscape designed and built a playground on a ‘wind, water, earth, fire’ concept. The idea was to create four unique spaces, each of which would creatively represent one of the four elements. The ‘fire’ area alludes to fire-licked land with the stacked ‘charred’ logs, ideal as a class meeting place. The ‘wind’ area features tall grasses that children can see sway in the breeze. ‘Water’ can be controlled by children using a hand pump. As it flows down the water tables, children can interact with it before it runs into the sand pit. The ‘earth’ element can be experienced by jumping off rocks or watching plants grow. Additional elements including a mud kitchen and musical instruments add to the sensory experiences and elicit creative play.